“This is a time of great stress and tension. But I don’t think we’re on the verge of war,” financial astrologer and author Mitchell Lewis writes in his Living by Starlight astrological newsletter.

Lewis has been a consulting astrologer for more than 30 years and spent more than 14 years on the Mercantile Exchange as an astro-economist working as a trader and analyst. Like his father before him he also is a full-time writer of mystery novels.

Well in advance, he used astrology to successfully predict the 2008 stock market meltdown and the subsequent recession that followed. He called the exact top of the housing market in July 2005 and predicted housing’s ultimate collapse.

These predictions and others were made in his newsletter, during lectures at the Princeton Club in New York City and during various media interviews.

Lewis also predicted oil prices would be rising from $32 in 2002 to more than $100 a barrel today. It is his opinion that oil prices at current high levels helps explain why Russian bear Vladimir Putin seems so intent on thumping his Cold War tom-toms.

It’s complicated.

In the heavens, a rare planetary configuration astrologers call a grand cross has everyone a bit on edge. The configuration has transiting planets Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto all locked together at either 90-degree right angles or 180-degree opposition aspects. These stressful aspects link astrology’s Cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

In the grand cross alignment Mars contributes impulsive raw energy and Jupiter the potential for over-the-top excesses. Uranus introduces an unstable or unpredictable element and transformative Pluto the potential for total destruction or annihilation.

“It’s easy to think of this as a time of great warnings and danger. But it’s also an opportunity that rarely comes: a chance to rearrange our lives to aim for a better result,” Lewis said.

In April all of the planets in the configuration were at 13 degrees of the astrological sign they were transiting. However, the effects of the energy created by this exact planetary alignment aren’t limited to a few days or a single event. It took about a year for the cosmic pattern to form and its power will linger for months to come, Lewis says.

“Many of the unusual events that are taking place right now are reflected in this powerful alignment, including the situation in Ukraine and the bizarre weather,” he noted.

The astrologer points out that Vladimir Putin was born on October 7, 1952, at 9:30 a.m. in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Sun in his natal horoscope is at 13 degrees of Libra or the same degree where the grand cross planets formed exact aspects with each other in April.

The Sun in America’s birth chart is at 13 degrees of Cancer and forms a hard, 90-degree aspect to Putin’s Sun in Libra. What this shows astrologers is that Putin and America have been at odds from the beginning with the current crisis triggered by the astrological alignment.

Lewis says a direct confrontation with Pluto, Uranus and Mars involved could easily result in a serious conflict, and Jupiter’s involvement would exacerbate the situation out of proportion. But he doesn’t see the current confrontation leading to World War III.

“The struggle we’re facing is an economic one, not thermo-nuclear,” he believes.

“Putin may be crazy but he’s not stupid. The future of Russia as world power and even as a stable world player is in serious jeopardy.”

In his latest mystery novel Lewis’ protagonist is a street-wise detective who uses astrology-aided deductive reasoning skills to solve murders. The financial astrologer follows a similar protocol when tracking and analyzing either the markets or the motives of real life world leaders.

“Modern Russia only has one major export – fossil fuels. They don’t manufacture much and, with the exception of caviar and vodka, export very little besides fuel. If the price of oil goes below a certain level, the Russian economy is in serious trouble,” he noted.

Lewis theorizes that by creating an unstable situation in Crimea Putin hopes to keep the price of oil and gas artificially high. The strategy appears to be working with oil now more than $100 a barrel and climbing.

Because Putin’s Sun is directly engaged in the grand cross formation the Russian president apparently feels empowered by it and assumes he can use this to create a power-block. Problem is, once the planets move away, other astrological aspects will be in play, the astrologer points out.

“This is a period of testing for Russia and its president. If Putin doesn’t handle the power of the grand cross properly his support in Russia could begin to falter and his power fade,” he said.